TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

5805 N LAMAR BLVD ? BOX 4087 ? AUSTIN, TEXAS 78773-0001

512/424-2000

dps.

STEVEN C. McCRAW

DIRECTOR

DAVID G. BAKER

ROBERT J. BODISCH, SR.

CHERYL MacBRIDE

DEPUTY DIRECTORS

COMMISSION

A. CYNTHIA LEON, CHAIR

MANNY FLORES

FAITH JOHNSON

STEVEN P. MACH

RANDY WATSON

Passage of HB 339 of the 81st Legislature required the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to issue a yearly

list of the collision rate for student drivers ages 15-18. This publication fulfills the requirement in

Transportation Code, Section 521.206 and identifies the type of course (i.e.-commercial course, Parent

Taught, etc.) and the collision rate of students taught by each driver education entity including the severity of

the collisions. This report spans drivers who were issued a provisional driver license from September 1, 2010

thru August 31, 2011. Crash data from September 2010 through August 2011 was evaluated to identify

collisions that occurred within one year from the date the license was issued.

Much of the data for this report was manually collected and verified. Although only 13,953 crashes were

reported in this publication, DPS Driver License staff reviewed over 137,000 driver records. Information

relating to the service provider was collected manually. The preparation of the data was conducted in phases

in order to verify school names and numbers, identify schools that were closed, and to resolve discrepancies

in data. DPS implemented an automated system to compile additional data previously not entered into the

driver license system; however, DPS will continue to manually check course type, course name and driver

education certificates for accuracy.

To ensure accuracy of the data provided in the report, the Driver License Division (DLD) collaborated with

driver education entities to verify the accuracy of student information. DLD provided the driver education

entities a Certificate Verification Report that identified any of their students involved in collisions. They

were given a period of time to verify whether the listed students completed their driver education program.

Simultaneously DLD personnel conducted an additional 100% review of the Certificate Verification Reports

to ensure accuracy of the data.

This report required DLD personnel to review the information thoroughly since student drivers submit a

Driver Education Certificate to DPS with handwritten information (date of completion and school number)

that is then manually entered into the driver license system. Discrepancies of the data were resolved. While

this effort did not yield a significant amount of discrepancies requiring correction, it was an important

proactive measure to allay any concerns about the collection methodology and the validity of the data. DLD

personnel fielded numerous telephone calls from over 100 driver education providers during this review

period answering questions and providing information on the requirements and the collection methods of the

collision rate publication.

As shown in the summary, there is less than 1% difference in the overall collision rate percentages for each

course type, indicating that there is not one form of education that exceeds the others. The focus of all

courses is to fully educate our young drivers and prepare them to safely operate a motor vehicle on the

roadways of Texas and beyond.

Contact Mimzie Herklotz Dennis, Texas Department of Public Safety, Driver License Division, at (512) 4242458 or by email Mimzie.Dennis@dps. if you have questions regarding this report.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

COURTESY ? SERVICE ? PROTECTION

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